The Curator: updating my 2024 book wish list
getting honest, tuning out the book noise, and aspirations for the rest of the year
We are halfway through the year, friends. How is your reading year shaping up? It’s a great time to reflect on all the wonderful books you read or didn’t read plus all the mediocre ones, or bad ones, or good ones that came at the wrong time. I glanced at my Goodreads challenge, and my first thought was, MEH1. Which is a super ungenerous view of my reading year - there have been some standouts, but frankly, nothing yet is my Station Eleven or North Woods of 2024.
I partially blame this on doing too much due to book noise. There are a lot of voices with strong opinions, and it’s easy to get carried away by the crowd. I, too, am tempted by the shiny things that vie for our attention. But with all the lists and reviews and a never-ending TBR, at some point, everything just becomes noisy clutter. What's that sound? Oh nothing, my TBR just fell over and my husband came home to find me trapped underneath the crushing weight of its existence.
I thought one way to refocus was to revisit my 2024 new book wish list and see if the titles brought the same joy as they originally did or if new titles might replace something I had changed my mind about. At first, I felt like a fraud for admitting I might have been wrong about a book. But the unintentional theme of the year here at Subverse is know thyself and I have discovered a few things about my reading life that have allowed me to let go of some of the the loud clutter.
I suffer from golden retriever attention span, but regardless, I have favorite genres - speculative epics, mysteries, crime, anything spooky or witchy, and literary fiction. Imagining the future or understanding the past is a balm for anxiety. Great writing ignites my awe for the world. I love solving a mystery.
Also. I’ve learned I cannot stomach stories about mothers or middle-age because, as an aspiring mother, it’s like reading about the war before sacrificing yourself in battle. I have small patience for romances since 2021 because my own life has been the best romance story I can imagine (gag I know sry). I want to be a good book citizen, to read widely and generously, but what did we learn two weeks ago? Know when to give up the ghost!
My original 2024 book wish list was 20 titles long. Here is the post if you want to revisit that episode of Hoarders:
Let’s see what changed shall we.
For your reconsideration
For the reasons enumerated above, I have reconsidered a few of the original titles on that wish list.
Nonfiction - I received an ARC via NetGalley, never even opened the damn thing. Honestly Corner: when I first read this description, I thought it had to do with actual ghosts, but it’s just about a mother haunted by the ghosts of her past. Sigh.
Bear - the reviews and blurbs and excitement around this one are intense but it feels very The Shape of Water and I can’t say I will ever forgo something else to pick this one up.
Come & Get It - I finally admitted to myself that I only included this because it was so buzzy, but in the grand scheme, one Kiley Reid was enough for me for now.
The Hunter - everyone says the first in this mini-series isn’t that great, which has kind of put me off French for now. Looking at expanding to other crime writers for a bit.
Both Greta & Valdin and Worry - Sometimes it's not that the book is bad, but rather that another might be better. Because time is limited, there are other contemporary novels I’d rather spend my time on (see below).
Midnight on Beacon Street - bought, read, was disappointed. This one is just between me and Goodreads now.
Recommit me like a psych ward!
Still excited about the remaining titles, a few of which I’ve read or are in progress. James was remarkable. The Ministry of Time is a little slow, but I love what Bradley does with language and metaphor. A few chapters into Horror Movie, which feels very male horror writer, but I’m giving it time. The Familiar stares at me from the shelf daily, but it feels more like an early fall read, along with King Nyx. Martyr! I will return to when I feel moody enough to stomach the substance abuse. The rest, all in good time.
New shiny even though I said I would ignore the new shiny
To be fair, the original wish list was really only the first half of the year because it’s hard to find much information about new books any further out than that. I took my time selecting and edited out the noise to include only the titles I was super duper excited about. See, learning already!
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore - I will finish this today, and it will be the book of the summer. SO GOOD.
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney - I’ve read a total of one Rooney in my life and liked it well enough. Looking forward to seeing if her content has matured in a way that feels more relatable to me.
The Winner by Teddy Wayne - I am leaning into literary thrillers since I am repeatedly let down by most of the typical fare, and this “hint of Tom Ripley” sounds like watching Saltburn without having to watch Saltburn.
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez - Our Share of Night was a top fav last year, I will read anything Enriquez writes EVEN short stories.
Darkly by Marisha Pessl - Pessl is an auto-buy immediate read for me; even with this title being YA, I really don’t care - I love her THAT much.
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors - I haven’t even read Cleo and Frank yet, but a couple of women reckoning with their childhood sounds like someone recorded my therapy sessions…
Woodworm by Layla Martinez - the house breathes, and Mariana Enriquez loves it. That’s all I needed to know.
Do you have any of these titles on your 2024 wishlist? If you’ve already read any, let me know what you think in the comments! 👻
READING 📖→
Well I just mentioned what I’m up to above, so no notes other than an East of Eden review is coming!
WATCHING 📽️→
The inimitable Silence of the Lambs. Two bangers in a row! This plus Alien has convinced me movies just aren’t the same anymore. It’s only the third movie in history to win the Oscar big five, and well deserved. Everyone quotes it but when was the last time you sat down to watch it, beginning to end, and NOT on cable TV? I wish they made more horror like this.
BOOKS IN MY SHOPPING CART 🛒→
Everything written by Octavia Butler, but specifically The Parable of the Sower duology and the Xenogenesis series.
BOOK NEWS & RESTACKS 📰→
Another stranger on the internet made me cry:
Edition.The
encourages us to slow read and be satisfied. I am taking this message to heart.Not book related, but this article on the new Dallas Cowboys Netflix doc perfectly encapsulates the female rage I felt from watching a single episode.
AND CATS 🐈⬛→
Do not take a bathroom break around a cat and a computer. Sorry to everyone who got a Teams message that just said eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
LET’S CHAT 👻→
Do you ever change your mind about a book before even reading it?
If you could only read one new book from 2024, what would you choose? Out of the ones I haven’t read yet, I am going with Darkly.
What are you currently reading, and is it any good?
In Case You Missed It 🖤
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See you around the bookshelf!
I love how thoughtful you are being with building your TBR and sussing out what you do/don't like. So valuable!
BEAR is my plan for an upcoming airplane trip :) I can’t wait!